IN PREPARATION

  BY

  MRS. EMMA P. EWING.

  BREAD AND BREAD MAKING.
  SALAD AND SALAD MAKING.
  DEVIL DAINTIES AND LITTLE DISHES.




  _Cookery Manuals._

  NO. 1.

  SOUP AND SOUP MAKING.

  BY
  MRS. EMMA P. EWING,

  _Author of “Cooking and Castle Building,” and Superintendent
  of the Chicago Training School of Cookery._

  CHICAGO AND NEW YORK:
  FAIRBANKS, PALMER & CO.

  1882.




  COPYRIGHT BY
  FAIRBANKS, PALMER & CO.
  1882.




INDEX.


                      PAGE.

  AMBER SOUP             20

  ASPARAGUS SOUP         25

  BEEF TEA               13

  CHICKEN SOUP           19

  CELERY SOUP            20

  CORN SOUP              25

  CROUTONS               34

  CARAMEL                33

  DUMPLINGS              35

  FORCE MEAT BALLS       36

  JULIENNE SOUP          21

  MULLIGATAWNY SOUP      19

  MOCK TURTLE            27

  NOODLES                35

  OYSTER STEW            30

  OYSTER SOUP            30

  ONION SOUP             23

  PEA SOUP               23

  SOUP STOCK             10

  STOCK POT               9

  SAVE-ALL SOUP          28

  TOMATO SOUP            21

  VEGETABLE SOUP         22

  WHITE SOUP             24




SOUP AND SOUP MAKING.




PRELIMINARY REMARKS.


Soup is so convenient, economical and healthful, that as an article of
diet it ranks second in importance only to bread; and soup making is
justly entitled to a prominent place in the science of cookery.

A simple soup or broth of good quality, delicately seasoned with salt
and pepper, or containing some of the grains, or grain products, is
always acceptable, and none of the more complex soups that can be
readily secured by a judicious introduction of vegetables, herbs and
spices ever meet with popular disfavor.

There are enough scraps of cooked and uncooked meats, trimmings of
roasts, steaks, chops, cutlets and so on in nearly every house to keep
the family supplied with nutritious, palatable soup, with very little
trouble and at only a slight expense for additional material. And as
the best dinner can generally be preceded with advantage by a light
soup of some kind, to an ordinary, cold, or “picked-up” family dinner,
a plate of soup is an invaluable adjunct, and can be prepared in a few
minutes in a kitchen where the value of the stock pot is recognized,
and the economy of good cooking understood.

Soup scientifically prepared is easier of digestion than almost
any other article of diet. The solid matter which enters into its
composition and would in the original form require several hours for
digestion, is so broken down in the process of preparation that it can
be readily assimilated with very little expenditure of vital force; and
being absorbed by the stomach as soon as eaten, goes immediately to
nourish the system.

But soup to fulfill its true mission must be attractive in appearance,
agreeable in flavor and unmistakable in character. It must not be a
weak, sloppy, characterless compound, nor a crude, greasy, inharmonious
hodge-podge. The defects of unsavory, unpalatable, indigestible soups
may be concealed, but can not be removed by the excessive use of salt,
pepper and other spices and condiments. And in order that soup of any
kind may legitimately aspire to high rank, either as a nutritive or
hygienic agent, it must be skillfully prepared, so as to please the eye
and gratify the palate.




HOW TO MAKE SOUP STOCK.


A STOCK POT.

Any ordinary pot or kettle can be used for preparing stock, but as a
“digester” or stock pot is one of the most useful utensils known to
the culinary art, and can be obtained at almost any hardware store, no
kitchen should be without one. The cook, who is provided with a stock
pot, and habitually uses it two or three times a week, can utilize all
available scraps, and generally has a supply of stock on hand from
which an acceptable soup, or delicious sauce can be improvised in a
short time, and with very little trouble.

The stock pot should not remain on the stove or range, and fresh
material be added from time to time to that which is partly or wholly
cooked; but whenever a quantity of scraps accumulate they should be
carefully prepared and put to cook.


SOUP STOCK.

A great many soups are made without the previous preparation of a
specially distinctive stock. But stock has as legitimate an existence
in soup making, as ferment has in bread making; and its recognition is
quite essential to a perfect understanding of the subject. Stock is the
base of soups. It is the fluid foundation with which other materials
are mixed, and skillfully incorporated into soups, that in modern bills
of fare are bewilderingly designated potages, purees, and consommes.

Soup stock, in the strictest sense of the term, is the fluid extract of
meat or meat and bones, and is of two kinds:--simple and compound.

SIMPLE stock is the extract from a single kind of flesh, fish or fowl.
COMPOUND stock is the extract from two or more kinds of flesh, fish or
fowl mingled and cooked together, or mixed together, after being cooked
separately.


HOW TO MAKE SOUP STOCK.

To make stock, meats of any kind cut in small pieces, or meat and
bones well cut and broken, should be put in a pot in cold water
slightly salted, and the water heated very gradually until it reaches
the boiling point, after which it should be kept simmering gently
for a longer or shorter time, according to the nature and quantity
of the material used, and the consistency of the stock wanted. When
sufficiently cooked, it should be removed from the fire, strained into
a jar or bowl, and set in a cool place.


QUANTITY OF WATER.

Authorities differ somewhat in regard to the quantity of water that
should be used in preparing stock and making soup.

If the simmering is to continue six or eight hours, as some recommend,
a little more water is required than when it is to continue only half
that length of time. But as the correct proportions are about one
quart of water to each pound of meat and bones, it is absurd to use an
additional quantity of water, and waste time and material in reducing
the stock to the proper consistency by evaporation.


QUANTITY OF SALT.

The principal object of using salted water in the preparation of stock,
is to facilitate the separation of the blood and slime from the meat.
The quantity of salt used should be regulated by the condition of the
meat, and in no case more than an ounce of salt to each gallon of water.


REMOVING THE SCUM.

The blood and slime when thrown to the surface in the form of scum,
should be removed as rapidly as it rises. If permitted to remain after
the water reaches the boiling point, it will be speedily incorporated
with the stock, and injure its appearance and flavor. A little cold
water poured into the pot the moment it boils, will hasten the rising
of the scum.


SOAKING AND SIMMERING THE MEAT.

The albumen of all meats, like the albumen or white of eggs, is curdled
and hardened by heat, but is readily soluble in cold water, and mixes
quietly with it; and when meat is put to cook in cold water, and soaked
until the water reaches the boiling point, and afterward permitted to
only simmer, all its juices are extracted, and mingled with the liquid
so perfectly as to greatly improve the flavor, and add to the nutritive
properties of the stock or soup.


QUALITY OF THE MEAT.

The flavor of soup depends upon the quality of the materials of which
it is made. Tough and coarse pieces of meat, when the meat is of good
quality, make good soups and sauces, and can be converted into stock
advantageously, as can also a great many rough, refuse bits and scraps;
but it is very important that all meats of which stock is to be made,
should be cooked before they get tainted, or stale; in fact, the
fresher the meat, the better will be the quality of the stock made from
it.


BEEF TEA.

Especial care should be observed in regard to the freshness of the meat
for beef tea, which comes under the generic name of soup, being merely
a plain soup stock. A cut from the round, on account of its juiciness,
is preferable, for beef tea. In preparing it, all skin and fat should
be removed, and the beef cut into small pieces. It should then be
covered with cold water, and allowed to soak for several hours, when
the water should be brought slowly to the boiling point. This tea is
not so nutritious as stock simmered for two or three hours, but is
believed by physicians to exercise a special tonic and exhilarating
influence upon the system independent of any directly nutritive quality
it may possess.


CONSISTENCY OF STOCK.

The consistency of stock depends greatly upon the material used, and
the length of time it is cooked. Bones contain a large quantity of
gelatinous matter, and when equal portions of meat and bones are used,
the stock, when cold, will be quite stiff and gelatinous; and the
longer it is allowed to simmer, the more stiff and gelatinous it will
become. If meat alone is used, or if the stock is cooked but a short
time, it will remain in liquid form.


TIME REQUIRED FOR MAKING STOCK.

When meat and bones are well cut and broken up, all their valuable
qualities will by proper soaking and simmering be extracted in two or
three hours; and although longer cooking will render the stock thicker
and more gelatinous, it is not advisable to continue it a greater
length of time, as the nutrition of soup depends very little, if at
all, upon the amount of gelatine it contains, and its flavor is injured
by too much cooking.


STRAINING, COOLING AND KEEPING STOCK.

Stock, when sufficiently cooked, should be carefully strained, and
unless wanted for immediate use should be set where it will cool as
rapidly as possible. The quicker it cools the finer will be its flavor,
and the greater the length of time it can be kept. In cold weather
stock will keep fresh and sweet for several days; but in summer, unless
kept in a cold place, it will be necessary for its preservation, to put
it over the fire and bring it to a boil, or “scald it” every day.


SALTING STOCK.

After stock has been strained and while still warm, all the salt that
will be needed in the soups or sauces to be prepared from it, can be
added with advantage, as it becomes thoroughly incorporated with the
stock and aids in its preservation.


COOKING VEGETABLES IN STOCK.

Many cook books recommend putting vegetables into the stock pot with
the meat and cooking them the same length of time. But as vegetables
that are cooked several hours with meat are apt to give the stock
a rank taste, and also to cause it to ferment in a short time in
warm weather, such a method is objectionable in making stock. Where
economy is a prominent consideration, or where the stock is to be used
immediately in soup, it is perhaps as well to simmer the meat and
vegetables together a sufficient length of time to extract all their
flavor and nutriment.




CLASSIFICATION OF SOUPS.


After the stock has been properly made there is comparatively little
trouble attending the preparation of any kind of soup desired; and it
may be proceeded with at once, by the addition of spices, vegetables
and other articles, or may be postponed till another day, and for
another occasion.

The variety of soups is illimitable and can be increased almost
indefinitely, as it requires but a new combination of materials to
entitle a soup to a distinctive name, and as grotesque a one as its
originator may choose to bestow upon it.

All soups, however, can be classified and arranged under five heads,
viz.:

  1. Plain soup.
  2. Clear soup.
  3. Vegetable soup.
  4. White soup.
  5. Mixed soup.

To one or the other of these divisions everything in the nature of
soup belongs; and a little intelligent thought will enable the cook
to select the materials adapted to, and appropriate for use in each
division.


FLAVOR AND COLOR OF SOUP.

The flavor of the solid material, either animal or vegetable from
which a soup takes its name, should always predominate when the soup
is served, and only such spices should be added in its preparation as
have a tendency to bring out, and perfectly develop the flavor of the
dominant article.

This proposition holds good, and should be conformed to also, in regard
to the color; so far, at least, as to prohibit the introduction of
dark colored vegetables, spices, etc., into light colored soups.


REMOVING THE GREASE.

Before using stock for soup, the first thing to be done is to remove
from it all superfluous grease. When it is to be used without being
permitted to cool, a little cold water poured into it as soon as
strained, will cause the grease to rise to the surface so it can be
skimmed off without difficulty. If it is set aside till cold, the
grease will form in a cake on the top of the stock, and can be taken
off when convenient, but, as it excludes the air, it is better to let
it remain till the stock is needed.


CLASS ONE.


PLAIN SOUPS.

Plain soup, in its strictest sense, is either simple or compound stock
seasoned with salt, or with salt and pepper. The addition of some
of the grains or grain products, generally improves the flavor and
increases the nutritive value of any simple soup or broth, but does
not take it out of the category of plain soup.

Prominent among, and strikingly illustrative of this class of soups, is


PLAIN CHICKEN SOUP.

The flesh of the fowl from which the stock is to be made, should, with
the exception of the breast, be cut into small pieces, and the bones
broken. The breast, with the skin as perfect as possible, should be
placed in the pot whole, on top of the prepared material, and removed
as soon as tender. To each quart of stock, when strained and skimmed,
add an ounce of rice, and let simmer three-quarters of an hour, then
add the breast of the chicken, cut in dice, a little minced parsley,
and salt and pepper to taste. Plain chicken soup is much improved if
about a pound of round steak be cut up and cooked with the fowl.

To this soup add a pint of sweet cream, thicken with flour, and flavor
highly with celery, and the product will be a much admired white
soup--cream of celery soup;--or if the celery and cream be omitted, the
addition of half a teaspoonful of curry powder will transform it into a
choice Mulligatawny soup.


CLASS TWO.


CLEAR SOUPS.

Clear soup is made from simple or compound stock, by straining and
clarifying. It can be seasoned with salt, pepper and other condiments,
or with salt and pepper alone. In the preparation of clear soups,
herbs, spices and vegetables are frequently cooked with the stock, and
strained out, and the soup then clarified. All soups that are made with
a foundation of clarified stock, or that have clear soup for a base,
can be thickened with arrow root, corn starch and similar articles, or
flavored with various vegetables, cereals, etc., without losing their
distinctive name or character, provided care be taken to use only such
articles as will not injure the clearness of the soup. As excellent
illustrations of this class of soups take--


_No. 1._--AMBER SOUP.

Put a gill each of sliced onion, carrot, turnip and parsnip, fried to a
delicate brown, together with the bits of ham or bacon with which they
were fried, into a soup kettle; add to them a sprig each of parsley
and thyme, half a bay leaf, two cloves, five pepper corns, and cover
with five quarts of plain or compound stock. Simmer gently for an hour,
strain, remove the grease, and clarify. Heat to boiling point, season
with salt and pepper, add a tablespoonful of caramel and serve. If
properly made, and carefully strained and clarified, this soup will be
as transparent as amber.


_No. 2._--TOMATO SOUP.

To four quarts of clear soup, add a quart of strained stewed tomato, a
teaspoonful of sugar, a tablespoonful each of corn starch and butter
stirred together, and salt and pepper to taste. Boil a few minutes and
serve.


_No. 3._--JULIENNE SOUP.

To four quarts of clear soup, add a gill each of carrot, parsnip,
turnip, celery, string beans, core of lettuce, and a small onion, cut
into thin pieces about an inch in length, and simmer gently until all
the vegetables are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and
ten or fifteen minutes before serving the soup, put into it a few
water cresses or some sorrel leaves. If all the vegetables are not
readily obtainable, one or more of them can be omitted without serious
detriment to either the flavor or title of the soup.


CLASS THREE.


VEGETABLE SOUPS.

Vegetable soup is made by cooking vegetables in either simple or
compound stock; or a special stock may be prepared by adding water
or milk to the juice extracted from vegetables. A vegetable soup
may contain but a single vegetable; or it may contain a variety of
vegetables, and be of any color desired. The vegetables may be cooked
a longer or shorter time, and left in, or strained out of the soup
according to taste or fancy.


_No. 1._--PLAIN VEGETABLE SOUP.

To three quarts of stock add a gill each of sliced carrot, turnip,
parsnip and onion, and simmer gently till tender. Half an hour before
serving, add a stalk of celery cut in small pieces, or two or three
sprigs of parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

A number of plain vegetable soups quite different in character can
be very readily compounded by using a greater or smaller variety of
vegetables, or by adapting the combination to the season and the
appetite.


_No. 2._--ONION SOUP.

Fry in an ounce of butter or clarified drippings, till a light brown,
two or three large onions sliced thin; then add two ounces of flour
and stir till about the same color. Mix thoroughly with a pint of cold
stock, place over the fire in a soup kettle, and when it comes to a
boil pour in a quart of boiling milk into which three boiled potatoes,
mashed to a smooth paste have been stirred. Season with salt and pepper
and serve hot. Water can be used instead of stock in this soup, if more
convenient, and the soup still be delicious.


_No. 3._--DRIED PEA SOUP.

Soak for several hours, or over night, a pint of dried peas in two
quarts of cold water. Drain and put to cook in four quarts of cold
water, with a quarter of a pound of breakfast bacon or salt pork,
fried to a light brown. As soon as the water boils skim carefully,
cover closely and let simmer gently three or four hours, or until the
peas are very tender. Strain and return the soup to the kettle, add
a teaspoonful of sugar, two quarts of stock, and, when boiling, a
tablespoonful each of flour and butter. Season with salt and pepper,
and serve with toasted bread cut in dice.

Pea soup can be made in this manner without the bacon or pork, in which
case it is advisable to use a cup of sweet cream instead of the butter,
and to season delicately with celery. Sweet corn is a very desirable
mixture for pea soup, and sugar may be dispensed with when it is used.
The addition of a little crushed spinach juice will convert this into a
nice green pea soup.

If the spinach juice be omitted, and a cup of dark rich gravy,
a spoonful of caramel, and a flavoring of herbs and spices be
substituted, the entire character of the soup will be so changed that
it must be transferred to the list of mixed soups.


CLASS FOUR.


WHITE SOUPS.

Veal, chicken, fish, oysters and other shell fish furnish the stock for
most white soups, and cream or milk enters largely into the composition
of many of them. One of the leading characteristics of white soups is
the prohibition of everything that has a tendency to color; hence,
comparatively few vegetables, herbs and spices are legitimately
permissible in their composition as seasoning and flavoring. With
certain restrictions, however, a greater number can occasionally
be introduced with appropriateness, and sometimes be given even a
prominent place.

An illustration is furnished in


_No. 1._--CREAM OF ASPARAGUS SOUP.

Cut off, about an inch in length, the points of two bunches of
asparagus, and simmer them gently until tender in water sufficient to
cover them, to which a teaspoonful of salt has been added. Boil the
stalks of the asparagus twenty minutes in three pints of white stock
or water, then strain and thicken the liquid with a tablespoonful of
flour, let it boil two minutes, and add a pint of sweet cream and the
asparagus points with the water in which they were cooked. Season with
salt and pepper, and serve hot.


_No. 2._--CORN SOUP.

A delicious white soup can be made by simmering a pint of sweet corn
in a quart of white stock for fifteen minutes, then adding a quart of
boiling milk and a small piece of butter, and seasoning with salt and
pepper.


_No. 3._--A RICH WHITE SOUP.

Simmer for an hour in three quarts of white stock a gill each of white
turnip, onion and celery cut in small pieces, together with a blade of
mace. Strain, thicken with two ounces of flour, boil two minutes, add
half a pint of sweet cream and season with salt and pepper. When about
to boil stir in the well beaten yolks of three eggs, and serve.


CLASS FIVE.


MIXED SOUPS.

Delicacy in seasoning and flavoring is pre-eminently the distinguishing
mark of a fine soup of any kind; but to mix, mingle and combine many
different articles of food so as to produce a soup whose flavor is
distinct from any single ingredient entering into its composition, yet
embodying the best qualities of each, is the true criterion of merit in
a mixed soup.

Nearly all soups are in a certain sense mixed soups; but plain, clear,
vegetable and white soups, have distinctive characteristics by which
they can be recognized, and their genuineness established, while the
individuality of a mixed soup must be evolved from the harmonious
adjustment of seemingly discordant materials, and depends in a great
measure upon the good judgment, discriminating taste and artistic skill
of the person who prepares it.

An illustration of a mixed soup that can not be placed under any other
division is


_No. 1._--MOCK TURTLE SOUP.

Ingredients:

A calf’s head, a beef soup bone, five quarts cold water, one onion,
one turnip, one carrot, one half stalk celery, one half bunch parsley,
one bay leaf, one lemon, five cloves, ten allspice, ten pepper corns,
one fourth nutmeg, two teaspoons of salt, a little cayenne pepper, two
ounces butter, one ounce flour--a glass of wine to each quart of soup.

Put the head after removing the brains with the spices in the soup
kettle, and cover with three quarts of cold water to which half a
teaspoonful of salt has been added.

When it boils skim carefully and let simmer four or five hours,
removing the meat as soon as tender. Strain and set aside till next
day. Put the beef bone and vegetables in the soup kettle and cover
with two quarts of cold water to which half a teaspoonful of salt has
been added, and simmer four hours, removing the scum as it rises. Soak
the brains in cold salt water an hour, tie in a linen cloth and boil
gently twenty minutes in salted water. Plunge an instant in cold water
to render white and firm. Cook two ounces butter and one ounce of flour
in a sauce pan till very brown. Put both soup stocks together in the
kettle, after all grease and settlings have been removed, also the meat
from the head cut in small dice, and the yolks of a dozen hard boiled
eggs, and when it boils add the brains cut in small pieces. Put the
lemon, cut in thin slices, in a heated tureen, with a gill of wine for
each quart of soup; pour the boiling soup on them, and serve.


_No. 2._--SAVE-ALL SOUP.

Collect the scraps left from breakfast and dinner, for instance, a half
pint of soup, a gill of gravy, a half pint of mashed turnip or potato,
a little macaroni cooked with cheese, a sour baked apple or broiled
chop or steak, etc., etc.; put them in the stock pot or soup kettle
with sufficient cold water, simmer for an hour, removing any scum that
rises, then strain and set aside. Next day remove the grease, put the
soup to cook, and when it boils, season with salt and pepper, and if it
seems to need other seasoning add a pinch Of thyme, or celery seed, or
a teaspoonful of sugar. It is sometimes well to put half a bay leaf and
two or three cloves in the kettle with the scraps. The flavorings and
spices required in a mixed soup of this description depend greatly upon
the nature of the scraps used. If they are mostly light and delicate,
thyme, mace, celery, or parsley can be added; if dark and heavy,
cloves, bay leaf, sweet marjoram or a little Worcestershire sauce,
or walnut or other catsup can be used more appropriately. Sometimes
an ounce each of butter and flour cooked together in a saucepan till
browned, and then added to the soup, give it the very thing it lacks;
or it may be that the flour stirred with a gill of cold sweet cream is
what is needed to make it a perfect soup.

To select and harmonize the materials for a mixed soup is one of the
best evidences of culinary capacity; and the cook who can do this
successfully, is qualified to prepare a soup of the most complex as
well as one of the simplest character, without regard to its name or
class.


OYSTER SOUPS.

These all belong to the white soup class, but they occupy so anomalous
a position--an oyster soup being simply an oyster stew with additional
liquid, and a thickening of flour--that they deserve special mention.


TO STEW OYSTERS.--_No. 1._

Rinse a quart of oysters in cold water, drain through a sieve. Put a
piece of butter the size of an egg in a stew pan, and when melted add a
pint of milk and let it come to a boil; add the oysters, and the moment
the edges curl remove from the fire; season with salt and pepper. Serve
with small crackers, or on thin slices of buttered toast.


TO STEW OYSTERS.--_No. 2._

Pour a pint of cold water over a quart of oysters, stir well and drain;
put the liquor in a stew pan greased with butter; when it boils, skim,
add the oysters, season to taste with butter, salt and pepper, and cook
and serve as in No. 1.

In changing an oyster stew to a soup, the thickening and extra liquid
should be added and cooked before the oysters are put into it.


POTAGES, PUREES AND CONSOMMES.

These are French terms used to designate different kinds of soups;
but they are applied so indiscriminately as to possess very little
significance, even for culinary adepts; and the dividing line between
a potage, a puree, a consomme, and an ordinary soup, is so imaginary
as to be indistinct to plain every-day people. But as a foreign or
grotesque name does not detract from the quality of a good thing,
those who prefer to call a soup a potage, a puree or a consomme, can
do so with impunity, and not legally infringe on the domain of any
professional cook.


HOW TO SCALD SOUP.

To scald stock or soup properly, it must be brought to the boiling
point and thoroughly heated. Its liability to ferment and grow sour is
only increased by merely re-warming it.


WHEN TO ADD FLAVORING.

Vegetables when used merely to flavor soups should be simmered only
long enough to extract their juices; and aromatic spices, orange and
lemon juice, and other liquid flavorings whose subtle essences are
driven off by heat, should be added barely a sufficient length of time
before the soup is served, for them to blend and harmonize with the
other materials--in fact it is usually better to put them in the tureen
and pour the soup over them just before it goes to the table.


ORDER OF ADDING VEGETABLES.

Where several kinds of vegetables are used in the preparation of a
soup, care should be taken to put those that require most cooking in
the kettle first; and, if possible, to limit the simmering of each kind
to the time actually necessary to cook it tender.


BROWNING VEGETABLES.

Breakfast bacon and ham give a peculiarly fine flavor to many soups,
and when they are used the vegetables added to such soups should be
browned in the fryings of the meat; but when neither bacon nor ham is
used, the vegetables should be browned in butter, as in most cases
they impart a richer flavor to the soup, if nicely browned in a little
grease before being added.


VEGETABLES, ETC., ADAPTED TO SOUPS.

While nearly all kinds of vegetables, herbs, spices and cereals can be
appropriately used at pleasure in clear, vegetable and mixed soups,
those specially adapted to white soups are: cauliflower, potato, white
turnip, onion, celery, salsify, cresses, capers, olives, parsley,
thyme, rice, macaroni, vermicelli, tapioca, sago, mace, and red and
white pepper.


TO CLARIFY SOUPS.

To each gallon of soup add, while cold, the whites and shells of two
eggs beaten with a little cold water, simmer for fifteen minutes,
removing the scum as it rises, and then strain through a flannel cloth
or bag.


CARAMEL.

Preparations for coloring and flavoring soups can be obtained at
almost any grocery by those who wish to use them. But caramel, which
is innocent and cheap, is one of the best coloring materials, and is
easily prepared:--

Stir half a pound of sugar and a spoonful of water in a saucepan over
the fire till a bright brown, then add half a pint of water, boil
a few minutes and strain. Caramel made in this manner will keep a
considerable length of time if put in an air-tight jar or bottle.


THICKENING FOR SOUPS.

When flour, corn starch, farina or arrow root are to be used as
thickening for soups they should be stirred to a smooth paste with cold
milk, cream, or butter, and then added to the boiling soup. If the
flour is desired brown it should be cooked with butter before it is
added to the soup.


ADDITIONS TO SOUPS.

Eggs cooked in a variety of ways, croutons, noodles, dumplings, force
meat balls, and a dozen other articles that are manufactured for the
purpose, are used according to fancy as additions to soups. Some of
them are cooked in the soup and served with it, and some are cooked
separate and put in the tureen or the individual plates, and the soup
poured over them.


CROUTONS.

A bit of toasted or fried bread is called in French a crouton; and
croutons, which are simply bits of bread toasted or fried brown,
are very nice in a variety of soups. The bread can be toasted in the
ordinary way and used dry, or it can be buttered, cut in dice and
toasted brown in the oven, or fried brown in butter or drippings. The
best way of serving croutons is to put a spoonful of them in each plate
and pour the hot soup over them.


NOODLES.

The noodle is one of the traditional articles for serving in soups. It
is a general favorite and is easily made:

To three eggs, two tablespoonfuls of water, and a pinch of salt, add
flour enough to make a stiff dough. Work and knead fifteen or twenty
minutes, roll to a very thin sheet, dust lightly and evenly with flour,
and roll up compactly. Then with a thin sharp bladed knife cut into
very thin slices and let dry for a couple of hours before putting in
the soup. They will cook in five minutes. Or,

Beat an egg very light, add flour until stiff enough to roll into
little crumbs the size of wheat or rice grains, drop into boiling soup
and cook a few minutes.


DUMPLINGS.

A very delicate dumpling for soup can be made of biscuit dough, raised
with either yeast or baking powder, in this manner: roll the dough
thin, cut into dice, roll under the hand on a floured board, and steam
for twenty minutes; put in the tureen and pour boiling soup over them.

But the most delicate of dumplings are made of light bread crumbs, suet
or marrow, egg and seasoning. These can be varied in seasoning to suit
any soup. This is a good combination for a clear, white or delicate
soup of any kind. Mix well, but lightly, a tablespoonful uncooked beef
marrow and half a pint bread crumbs, seasoned with salt, pepper, grated
lemon peel and mace; add one well beaten egg, roll into balls in the
hands, and drop into the boiling soup. They should be served as soon as
they rise to the surface.


FORCE MEAT BALLS.

To four parts cooked veal, and one part suet minced together, add four
parts bread crumbs and season with salt, pepper, powdered cloves and
sweet herbs. Bind together with beaten egg, make into small balls and
fry brown. These are much used in mock turtle and other heavy soups.




SOUP AND SOUP MAKING QUESTIONS.


1.--What is a stock pot?

2.--How should it be used and how frequently?

3.--What is soup stock?

4.--How many kinds of stock are there?

5.--What is simple stock?

6.--What is compound stock?

7.--How is stock made?

8.--Why should the water for making stock be salted?

9.--How much salt should be used?

10.--Why should the scum that rises be removed?

11.--Why should meat for making stock be put to cook in cold water?

12.--Why should meat for soup be simmered rather than boiled?

13.--What should be the quality of the meat for making stock or soup?

14.--What is beef tea and how is it made?

15.--Upon what does the consistency of stock depend?

16.--What length of time should stock be simmered?

17.--When sufficiently cooked how should it be treated?

18.--How long will stock keep?

19.--Should vegetables be cooked with meat in making stock? Why not?

20.--How many classes of soups are there?

21.--What are they?

22.--What flavors should predominate in soup?

23.--What kinds of spices should be added to soup?

24.--Does the same rule that governs the flavor hold good in regard to
the color of soups?

25.--When and how should the grease be removed from soup?

26.--What is plain soup?

27.--What effect on a plain soup has the addition of grain or grain
products?

28.--How is plain chicken soup made?

29.--How is cream of celery soup made?

30.--How can a plain chicken soup be changed to a mulligatawny soup?

31.--How is clear soup made?

32.--How is amber soup made?

33.--How is tomato soup made?

34.--How is julienne soup made?

35.--How are vegetable soups made?

36.--How is a plain vegetable soup made?

37.--How is onion soup made?

38.--How is dried pea soup made?

39.--How is green pea soup made?

40.--When does a pea soup become a mixed soup?

41.--From what is stock for white soups obtained?

42.--What is a leading characteristic of white soups?

43.--How is cream of asparagus soup made?

44.--How is corn soup made?

45.--Give a recipe for a rich white soup.

46.--Upon what does the individuality of a mixed soup depend?

47.--How is mock turtle soup made?

48.--How can a good save-all soup be made?

49.--How does an oyster soup differ from an oyster stew?

50.--How are oysters stewed?

51.--What are potages, purees and consommes?

52.--What is the distinction between them and ordinary soups?

53.--How should soup or stock be scalded?

54.--When is the proper time for adding flavorings and spices to soups?

55.--How should vegetables be added?

56.--How should vegetables for soups be browned?

57.--What different vegetables, herbs and spices are adapted to
different soups?

58.--How are soups clarified?

59.--What is caramel, and how is it made?

60.--How should thickening for soups be prepared and used?

61.--What are some of the additions to soup?

62.--What are croutons and how are they made and served?

63.--How are noodles made?

64.--How are dumplings made?

65.--How are force meat balls made?




TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:


  Italicized or underlined text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.

  Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.